It is universally known among goat people that our buddies waste hay. But, after a couple years of having goats I still twitch when I see one of the goats grab a huge mouthful of hay or alfalfa and watch 60% of it fall on the ground while they chew it. We have a modified keyhole feeder to help limit waste, which is something we can get away with since we only keep 2-4 goats at a time (and they're Oberhaslis so they get along like angels 
), but we still throw away what seems like mountains of hay because it touches the ground and the goats won't touch it anymore. Additionally, two hours after I throw a large flake of fresh orchard grass or timothy into the feeder, there is a fluffy mound of loose hay piled above the feeder that is left from the goats picking through and eating all the leafy parts and leaving the stemmy parts. At this point, the goats will nibble at what's left, but they have to be pretty hungry to eat everything in the feeder.
What I'm wondering is, how much hay are you others willing to throw out? Do you make your milking does eat the alfalfa stems, or just the nutrient-dense leaves? Do you wait until the feeder is empty to refill it, or do you regularly or occasionally empty the feeder and throw out the leftovers, or use them as bedding?
At the moment, we only have two goats so this isn't a financial issue--the milk and companionship more than pays for their food. We're mostly curious about what the more experienced goat herders are doing.
), but we still throw away what seems like mountains of hay because it touches the ground and the goats won't touch it anymore. Additionally, two hours after I throw a large flake of fresh orchard grass or timothy into the feeder, there is a fluffy mound of loose hay piled above the feeder that is left from the goats picking through and eating all the leafy parts and leaving the stemmy parts. At this point, the goats will nibble at what's left, but they have to be pretty hungry to eat everything in the feeder. What I'm wondering is, how much hay are you others willing to throw out? Do you make your milking does eat the alfalfa stems, or just the nutrient-dense leaves? Do you wait until the feeder is empty to refill it, or do you regularly or occasionally empty the feeder and throw out the leftovers, or use them as bedding?
At the moment, we only have two goats so this isn't a financial issue--the milk and companionship more than pays for their food. We're mostly curious about what the more experienced goat herders are doing.
